Multicast content provider
First Claim
1. A method on a computer server for multicasting data to a number of client devices comprising:
- exposing the data from a storage location through an application outside of control of a multicast transmission protocol operating on the computer server;
creating a data stream of the data from the storage location in a format acceptable for transmission according to the multicast transmission protocol, further comprising dividing the data into a number of data blocks for transmission; and
transmitting a first portion of the data blocks to a first client device upon initiation of a transmission session according to the multicast transmission protocol;
receiving an indication that a second client device has joined the transmission session; and
if the first portion of data blocks has already been transmitted, transmitting a second portion of the data blocks to both the first client device and the second client device, further including transmitting to the second client device information regarding a total number of data blocks in the transmission, the multicast transmission protocol being agnostic to data type and the multicast transmission protocol polling at least one of the first client device and the second client device to determine a block of the data not yet received by at least one of the first client device and the second client device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A multicast content provider operates on a multicast server in conjunction with a multicast transmission protocol that is independent of the content data transmitted and allows extensibility in the content provider to distribute any type of content. The content provider module is designed to find, read, write, and transform particular types of data into a form acceptable for transmission by the transmission protocol on the multicast server. The transmission protocol is agnostic to the type, size, format, or location of the data file. The content provider module manages these issues so that the transmission protocol does not have to. This relationship between the content provider module and the transmission protocol establishes a “generic” multicast solution, capable of complete flexibility with regard to content delivery.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method on a computer server for multicasting data to a number of client devices comprising:
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exposing the data from a storage location through an application outside of control of a multicast transmission protocol operating on the computer server; creating a data stream of the data from the storage location in a format acceptable for transmission according to the multicast transmission protocol, further comprising dividing the data into a number of data blocks for transmission; and transmitting a first portion of the data blocks to a first client device upon initiation of a transmission session according to the multicast transmission protocol; receiving an indication that a second client device has joined the transmission session; and if the first portion of data blocks has already been transmitted, transmitting a second portion of the data blocks to both the first client device and the second client device, further including transmitting to the second client device information regarding a total number of data blocks in the transmission, the multicast transmission protocol being agnostic to data type and the multicast transmission protocol polling at least one of the first client device and the second client device to determine a block of the data not yet received by at least one of the first client device and the second client device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A server device for multicasting data to a number of client devices comprising:
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a multicast server module that transmits data to one or more of the client devices during a transmission session according to a transmission protocol that is agnostic to data type, the multicast server module determining a portion of a data set a first client device is missing and a portion of the data set a second client device is missing by polling the first client device and the second client device, the data set being multicast by the server computer in a multicasting session, the first client device and the second client device having joined the multicast session in progress at different times, the multicast server sending respective missing data portions to the first client device and the second client device; and a content provider module that exposes the data from a storage location and provides the data to the server module in a format acceptable for transmission according to the transmission protocol. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-readable storage device having computer-executable instructions for performing steps of a method for multicasting data to a number of client devices, the method comprising:
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exposing the data from a storage location through an application outside of control of a multicast transmission protocol operating on a computer server; creating a data stream of the data from the storage location in a format acceptable for transmission according to the multicast transmission protocol, further comprising dividing the data into a number of data blocks for transmission; and transmitting a first portion of the data blocks to a first of client device upon initiation of a transmission session according to the multicast transmission protocol; receiving an indication that a second client device has joined the transmission session; and if the first portion of data blocks has already been transmitted, transmitting a second portion of the data blocks to both the first client device and the second client device, further including transmitting to the second client device information regarding a total number of data blocks in the transmission, the multicast transmission protocol being agnostic to data type and the multicast transmission protocol polling at least one of the first client device and the second client device to determine a block of the data not yet received by at least one of the first client device and the second client device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification